What do you do for a living?

[Sithaer]

Is this in Hungary?

Yep, it was like 10 mins away 'with a car' from where I live. 'they picked me up with a van in my town and also drove us home after, it was a ~8 hours/day work but it was pretty chill anyway'

@Sithaer why can't you not live a fixed life? Traveling would be epic. those pics are epic btw.

I don't even have a driver's license and idk I can't imagine living all over the place for a few months while we finish a digsite.'That mentioned girl had issues with this too, she had to temporary live around here cause she lived too far to travel daily'
Idk I like my own place and stability, having to live all over the place would be an entirely different life for me which I'm not sure if I could deal with.

 

[berat]

Although I still study for college now, I worked at work many times before that. I worked in the kitchen of a tea garden, then I became a waiter. When I finished high school, I got into the software industry. I have earned good money as I have been interested in this sector for about 8 years. I plan to use this money at the school I will make this year. A beautiful life awaits us. And, I am thinking of being an international trade chef.

 

[emothxughts]

Just started work 1.5 months ago as a QC assistant at a steel fabrication company.

 

[Shihab]

I draft proposals, make presentations, make bids, then sit twiddling my thumbs waiting for projects that either will end up with some other firm or never kick off due to... circumstances...

Officially an engineer, but the job largely intersects with academia, doing hydrology and related infrastructure design (storm drainage, irrigation, etc). The natural scale for these projects has made them scarcer in recent years, so I -somehow- found myself doing teaching jobs (undergrad courses, workshops).

 

[bug]

I tried coding at around age 17 or 18, visual basic. net just one class I took on it, and I hated my life. I don't know how anyone can stare at lines of code for 8 hours day and keep their sanity. Not only that it just hurt my head and my eyes.

Been doing it professionally for 20 years now. With another 10 years as a hobby before getting my BSc. Staring the the code is just the beginning of the journey. The fun part is getting (proper-ish) requirements and making them happen. And since I've changed a number of clients over time, getting to learn about various domains is what keeps things interesting.

I've also been assembling PCs for a while during college. Still do that for friends and family, albeit increasingly rarer, since everyone just buys laptops these days.

 

[BoboOOZ]

I did intelligence studies and worked for a short while in intelligence in my native country, resigned because of the high levels of corruption, moved to France and switched to studying computer science, did a MSc and a PhD and then research for a few years, and since about 12 years ago I've moved to the industry and I've been working as a developer. These days working from home 4 out of 5 days.

 

[Space Lynx]

I draft proposals, make presentations, make bids, then sit twiddling my thumbs waiting for projects that either will end up with some other firm or never kick off due to... circumstances...

Officially an engineer, but the job largely intersects with academia, doing hydrology and related infrastructure design (storm drainage, irrigation, etc). The natural scale for these projects has made them scarcer in recent years, so I -somehow- found myself doing teaching jobs (undergrad courses, workshops).

I just realized you are from the Sudan, aren't they in a massive civil war right now? Sounds like your talking about a very casual normal life... the world is fascinating. It's interesting what is in our heads cause of movies and such. It blows my mind that you could drive south a little bit, and be near the warlords of the slave mines in the NW area of the Republic of the Congo. Fucking wild. Normal life, chilling and gaming sometimes, then just a few hours south is literal hell on Earth where the warlords who make modern wars look like princesses playing with dolls reign supreme. Fuck I need a drink, that just blew my mind. Dude is just chilling and living normal life like me, right next to craziest warlords on the planet. I want to co-op a game with you someday, that would blow me away lol it's crazy how close we are all cause of planes and modern tech, but there is still this sense of like immense distance, cause those warlords in the Republic of the Congo have always felt like distant, on another planet, type mentality, but in reality they are not that far away. Which blows my mind even more how the world turns a blind eye to such atrocities all in the name of the coltan mineral. We are a fucking wild species

Been doing it professionally for 20 years now. With another 10 years as a hobby before getting my BSc. Staring the the code is just the beginning of the journey. The fun part is getting (proper-ish) requirements and making them happen. And since I've changed a number of clients over time, getting to learn about various domains is what keeps things interesting.

I've also been assembling PCs for a while during college. Still do that for friends and family, albeit increasingly rarer, since everyone just buys laptops these days.

i have a friend who is on the PC all day for work, and she games all night in the evenings, always staring at a screen, literally 14-16 hours a day, never has a single dry eye issue, or redness, etc. I think some people are just born with better eyes. cause my eyes give out on me after a couple hours on any screen and i just gotta go outside for a minute. its not horrible if its images like a game or movie, but text or lines of code, or even reading on this forum, it hurts my eyes for some reason.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Find something that doesn't make you want to tear your hair out. You may never find a job that you enjoy 100% of the time, but find something you can handle easy, doesn't make you lose sleep over and you can see yourself doing as you age.

I worked lots of retail type jobs and customer service jobs since I was 15 years old - I hated them all. I liked most of the employees I worked with, but I hate the people/customers. 99% of the customers are dumb. And that's being nice about it, because I mean they are outright f'ing stupid. My last job was in the tech field, but so many of the customers are so dumb that it hurts my head just thinking about all the stupid stuff they did and how many of them can't follow basic instructions....I'm so happy I'm not in a job right now that requires customer service or dealing with customers on a daily basis.

I handle logistics at the place I currently work, I have to talk to customers very little and I have very little interactions with people outside of the business. I like being busy, which isn't always the case at my current job, but I'd rather be bored at times over having to deal with stupid people. I'm pretty content with my current job.

 

[Space Lynx]

Find something that doesn't make you want to tear your hair out. You may never find a job that you enjoy 100% of the time, but find something you can handle easy, doesn't make you lose sleep over and you can see yourself doing as you age.

I worked lots of retail type jobs and customer service jobs since I was 15 years old - I hated them all. I liked most of the employees I worked with, but I hate the people/customers. 99% of the customers are dumb. And that's being nice about it, because I mean they are outright f'ing stupid. My last job was in the tech field, but so many of the customers are so dumb that it hurts my head just thinking about all the stupid stuff they did and how many of them can't follow basic instructions....I'm so happy I'm not in a job right now that requires customer service or dealing with customers on a daily basis.

I handle logistics at the place I currently work, I have to talk to customers very little and I have very little interactions with people outside of the business. I like being busy, which isn't always the case at my current job, but I'd rather be bored at times over having to deal with stupid people. I'm pretty content with my current job.

I think everyone should always start on the premise no job is going to be 100% enjoyable. I always pick jobs where I have to deal with the least amount of people, my dream job is probably some stress free admin job in academia, turns out those jobs are harder to get than you would think, probably for that reason... humans have gone insane since the advent of the internet. No one has to abide by decency or formality rules anymore, anything goes in this timeline. I can't imagine working retail. Every time I have to go to Walmart I pray for strength in my arms and speed in my legs so I can be done and out of there as fast as I can, for the sights can leave scars on my cosmological understanding of evolution.

 

[Shihab]

Sounds like your talking about a very casual normal life

I was describing things before this mess.
But otherwise, be it wars, coups, martial laws, or pandemics and lockdowns, people still gotta live (and stay sane).

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

I draft proposals, make presentations, make bids, then sit twiddling my thumbs waiting for projects that either will end up with some other firm or never kick off due to... circumstances...

So I am an estimator at a contractor that does larger commercial projects. HVAC (heating and cooling) and plumbing.

Got into the industry at the start of COVID and working my way up. No previous experience in Construction.

I love my job - it never gets boring, and there is not too much human interaction with random people. The dark side of it is that 90% of your time is wasted for the reasons above.

My recommendation to anyone looking for a career? Construction. Rewarding to see buildings you built, decent pay for both blue and white collar jobs, and easy to get ahead in one of the numerous smaller companies.

 

[bug]

i have a friend who is on the PC all day for work, and she games all night in the evenings, always staring at a screen, literally 14-16 hours a day, never has a single dry eye issue, or redness, etc. I think some people are just born with better eyes. cause my eyes give out on me after a couple hours on any screen and i just gotta go outside for a minute. its not horrible if its images like a game or movie, but text or lines of code, or even reading on this forum, it hurts my eyes for some reason.

As you can imagine, I started on CRTs (and not the latter, 100Hz+, models either). Never had a problem, but always taken care of luminosity. Most people who think they have some special sensitivity to monitors, actually turn the brightness up too much. Very few have an actual eye, or monitor, problem. LCDs and lately OLEDs are basically a non-issue if kept at around 120 cd/sqm.

Plus, it's not even close to staring at a monitor for 8 hours straight. There are meetings, helping others in your team, assisting PM or QA, watercooler talk about a particular problem. On the other hand, to keep up with things, you will need to read about stuff on your own time, too.

 

[TheLostSwede]

and now a Teacher teaching English in Korea

You should've come to Taiwan instead...
Although I hear they pay a lot better in Korea.

 

[Ruru]

Nothing. I feel myself stupid as fuck and I feel that I'm good for nothing, not begging for any pity here but that's just I've felt since I was about 20. I'm 33 now.

 

[Chrispy_]

I like this thread, there's been some good reading!

I'm a 25-year vet of the IT industry; I graduated with a Masters in Systems Engineering and Robotics, after switching out from the first year of a Mechanical Engineering degree. I freelanced as a web admin and small-scale PC builder during the dot-com bubble, then bounced around jobs and cities in the south of England, and eventually found a cozy niche in London as a sysadmin for a large AEC multinational until 2008 when the stock market crash shook everything up and our big multinational split into three smaller firms.

I now mainline four days a week with one of those firms that is just starting to open more international offices. For them I'm their lead systems integrator, testing building maintaining a fleet of homebrew CAD workstations, whilst also handling some of the higher-level sysadmin stuff, and their only current datacentre architect. On Wednesdays I freelance - consultuncy if I can get the work, otherwise I do some trivial IT manager stuff for much smaller (5-50 people) architectural firms that have single sites, very simple IT, and are mostly just colleagues from the AEC industry that have started their own studios. I like it, it's good to touch grass with the real-world tech issues and daily requirements of a handful of businesses of varying size.

Some days are dull, some days I get to play with all the new tech - but the pay is good, I'm never stressed out, and for the majority of the time, every day is an unknown which keeps me from getting bored. If I have one regret, it's that I haven't continuously jumped around for higher salaries, but my life is so ridiculously comfortable and the mortgage is already paid off, so I'm not really sure the stress of moving jobs is worth the pay at this point in life. That's surely a sign I'm getting old

For those who are uncertain or unhappy in what you're doing with your career, please do what I did and chase what you like and what you're good at (hopefully those two are the same thing!) I have never once worked in robotics as an engineer. I never reached Chartered status, and my M.Eng is mostly obsolete and gone to waste. Sure I still work with loads of engineers, but I am not working in the field I graduated in. It took me 18 months to realise that I wasn't happy in engineering so I chased down work and interviewed for the field I enjoyed working in.

 

[gurusmi]

Everybody is usuable. Hopefully not as a negative example.

I visited several schools. Finaly i got the allowance to get to universities of applied sciences and became a metrologist (Google translate) for communication technics. After i got to an university for applied sciences in IT. I passed and got my diploma in System Software. Whilst studying i had to pass also practicas. I made them at IBM Germany. But i didn't want to work yet. So i got to a second university (owned by the big T, the german telecom) and also there i absolved and got my second diploma in communication electronics. So i started to work. I did need to find what i want to do for the next time. First i have been at a electronics distributor. After around one year i changed. I became a software developer. Within one year i was a build manager. Being on top of the career ladder as a developer. I worked also there for round about one year. All of that hasn't attracting me. So i became a freelancer. Searching my own projects, selecting interesting customers and also work. I became a senior consultant. After that i started to take projects as a project manager. I have been at projects at well known companies in the banking branch. I did nameful things and have been well known at customers and project firms. I didn't need to search anymore. The firms did ask me if i would. I became a Project manager specialiced on (mainly) software rollOuts. After i got to the pharmacy BioTech/MedTech branch and became a quality assurance manager. I never liver somewhere more than (let's say) one year. If the project ended i took an other one relocating to be onsite. I lived and worked in the US and and in Switzerland.

Now i'm preparing to open a small 3D Printshop. I produce a special kind of models that can be used at households. It will be selled online. Therefor i will also need employees. Also i will leave germany again. I just don't know whereto. Right now i'M dreaming about Hawaii, Georgia or the Tessin in Switzerland. My plans for the future will get through as they did in the past.

Oh. I started to code in the 70'ies with assembler. My dad had a own business and repaired at that time TV sets. And my whole family is a bit older. the name of my father was named first in 1650. My grandmothers name exists since 1350. Both families owned their own businesses.

 

[Ruru]

Everybody is usuable. Hopefully not as a negative example.

Well if I just could build and troubleshoot PCs for living, then I would totally like doing something. That's just so marginal thing these days if we're honest. :/

 

[AnotherReader]

Like @Chrispy_ I've really enjoyed reading this thread.

As for myself, I studied Biology and Mathematics, but ended up in the data analytics field. Earlier in my career, this gave me a chance to experience a slice of life in various countries besides my own such as Algeria, Egypt, Finland, and Italy. Now, I'm working for a large local retailer where I'm one of the people involved in managing our transition to the cloud. Besides the technical challenges, I find that I enjoy learning about the business and interacting with people which was a surprise as I'm a classic introvert.

As for the OP, @Cvrk , don't tie your self-worth to what you do. If you're living comfortably, then take satisfaction in your interests and loved ones. Despite my comfortable life, I'm the least conventionally successful member of my family which is filled with doctors. My father was a very famous neurosurgeon so it was hard to live up to his example, but I'm happy with my life and grateful for all the people who make it a life worth living: my parents, sister, wife, son, and friends.

Nothing. I feel myself stupid as fuck and I feel that I'm good for nothing, not begging for any pity here but that's just I've felt since I was about 20. I'm 33 now.

Don't feel that way. There are very few genuinely stupid people, and those that are can't help themselves. Others appear stupid due to a lack of application or indifference to learning. Since you like building and troubleshooting PCs, maybe you could look into roles tied to data centers.

 

[BoboOOZ]

Well if I just could build and troubleshoot PCs for living, then I would totally like doing something. That's just so marginal thing these days if we're honest. :/

My viewpoint is that you should try to work with something that you are relatively good at and that allows you to have a decent revenue. I think that if you turn your hobby into your daily work, it will become less fun. The way I try to have fun at work is just trying to be better at what I do and try to solve problems, in time it becomes rewarding in itself. But I wouldn't code at home for fun, and I wouldn't try to earn my living as a photographer, or a blademaker, etc. Some things are more fun as hobbies and others are more productive for earning a living.

 

[gurusmi]

Well if I just could build and troubleshoot PCs for living, then I would totally like doing something. That's just so marginal thing these days if we're honest. :/

Well. I'm right now on building a rig. This is definitely not a marginal thing. Most people don't haven even seen a 3D Printer working. And I construct parts and print them. So also there are different levels.

Never ever think "i can't do this or that". With that mindset you train your mind only to search for excuses. You want solutions. So think that you can do it. Then your minf will search for ways to get it done. It's an old rule at the NLP (neurolinguistic programming). Make yourself short and longterm targets you can verify if they are reached. Then you don't need to discuss with yourself if they are reached.

Find out what you want. and then search for targets that needs to be absolved on the way to that big target. Visualize your targets. I.e. if i became a ... i will buy me a ... car (or whatever). Visualize yourself how it feels in that car. How the car smells. How the leather feels. How the engin roars. What you see in this car. If you are down then take a real happy moment in your live. Think about that moment. What you felt, have seen, have heard, smelled. Your whosh, you will feel better. That's a technics of nlp either.

 

[BoboOOZ]

As for the OP, @Cvrk , don't tie your self-worth to what you do. If you're living comfortably, then take satisfaction in your interests and loved ones. Despite my comfortable life, I'm the least conventionally successful member of my family which is filled with doctors. My father was a very famous neurosurgeon so it was hard to live up to his example, but I'm happy with my life and grateful for all the people who make it a life worth living: my parents, sister, wife, son, and friends.

I have many friends that are doctors and I had had childhood friends whose parents were doctors and I think that most doctors (have to) dedicate too much of their time to work. While I like medicine as a hobby and I think healing other humans is extremely valuable, I have always though that I would be miserable with such a career, too little time for the other hobbies that I have (and for my children, family and friends).

 

[Ruru]

Well. I'm right now on building a rig. This is definitely not a marginal thing. Most people don't haven even seen a 3D Printer working. And I construct parts and print them. So also there are different levels.

Never ever think "i can't do this or that". With that mindset you train your mind only to search for excuses. You want solutions. So think that you can do it. Then your minf will search for ways to get it done. It's an old rule at the NLP (neurolinguistic programming). Make yourself short and longterm targets you can verify if they are reached. Then you don't need to discuss with yourself if they are reached.

Find out what you want. and then search for targets that needs to be absolved on the way to that big target. Visualize your targets. I.e. if i became a ... i will buy me a ... car (or whatever). Visualize yourself how it feels in that car. How the car smells. How the leather feels. How the engin roars. What you see in this car. If you are down then take a real happy moment in your live. Think about that moment. What you felt, have seen, have heard, smelled. Your whosh, you will feel better. That's a technics of nlp either.

What I mean that working in an actual shop these days is a pretty marginal thing since almost everything happens online. You get your parts on the basket on a known store, pay them to build it for you and that's it. Me with practically no work history (especially in IT segment) has no chance for that especially as I don't live in the "larger" cities in Finland.

 

[AnotherReader]

I have many friends that are doctors and I had had childhood friends whose parents were doctors and I think that most doctors (have to) dedicate too much of their time to work. While I like medicine as a hobby and I think healing other humans is extremely valuable, I have always though that I would be miserable with such a career, too little time for the other hobbies that I have (and for my children, family and friends).

I agree. I recall my father being extremely busy when I was growing up, and we didn't get to spend much time with him on most days. He tried to make up for it on the weekend, and we treasured the weekends even more because that meant he would be there all the time. My sister is a doctor in Australia and she's following in my father's footsteps. Despite the big bucks, it's not a life I would want.

 

[Space Lynx]

What I mean that working in an actual shop these days is a pretty marginal thing since almost everything happens online. You get your parts on the basket on a known store, pay them to build it for you and that's it. Me with practically no work history (especially in IT segment) has no chance for that especially as I don't live in the "larger" cities in Finland.

at the end of the day, 90% of my work history was me being unhappy. but that was work hours, work is a means to an end, as in money to do things you enjoy. I still enjoyed reading/playing games during those years. it is nice when I wake up now and don't dislike the idea of going to work, but overall you shouldn't beat yourself up like that. at end of day works is just to get money so we can live and enjoy life. speaking of which, I am going to treat myself to some chicken wings today and bbq sauce, you got to learn to enjoy the small things in life, I know people who are millionaires who are more unhappy than me, cause all they care about is their 80 grand car and 10 grand watch, its pretty sad honestly. life is what you make of it, your perception of reality.

 

[Ruru]

at the end of the day, 90% of my work history was me being unhappy. but that was work hours, work is a means to an end, as in money to do things you enjoy. I still enjoyed reading/playing games during those years. it is nice when I wake up now and don't dislike the idea of going to work, but overall you shouldn't beat yourself up like that. at end of day works is just to get money so we can live and enjoy life. speaking of which, I am going to treat myself to some chicken wings today and bbq sauce, you got to learn to enjoy the small things in life, I know people who are millionaires who are more unhappy than me, cause all they care about is their 80 grand car and 10 grand watch, its pretty sad honestly. life is what you make of it, your perception of reality.

I get your point. It's gonna suck when you turn your hobby to your job and you start to hate it.

I just.. I feel like I'm not into any other possible thing.